(Adds quotes, details) DILI, April 18 (Reuters) - East Timor Prime Minister Jose Ramos-Horta and the country's parliament chief, Francisco Guterres, will contest a presidential runoff next month, the head of the election commission said on Wednesday. None of the eight candidates in April 9 balloting won an absolute majority to avoid a second round. Guterres, a former resistance fighter and also president of the ruling Fretilin party, got 28 percent of the vote, while his main contender, Ramos-Horta, placed second with 22 percent, said Faustino Cardoso Gomes, chairman of the National Election Commission, citing official provisional results. The second round would be held on May 8. The vote counting process had been marred by complaints of irregularities and technical errors. "CNE (National Election Commission) has revised all the documents from all the vote centres in all the districts and provisional results show that Lu'Olo and Jose Ramos-Horta will go to the second round vote," Gomes told a news conference, referring to the guerrilla nickname Guterres had during East Timor's fight for independence against Indonesia. Gomes said the commission would hand over the results to the court of appeal and there would be a 24-hour period when candidates could lodge complaints. The April 9 polls were mostly peaceful but were followed by a stream of disputes and allegations over the way the process was carried out, prompting demands for a recount by some candidates. Election organisers were accused of failing to educate voters and train officials. The drawn-out elections also raised concerns about fresh instability in the impoverished nation, still suffering from deep divisions five years after independence. Portugal ruled East Timor for centuries before pulling out in 1975. Indonesia took over and for decades its troops fought rebels led by Fretilin. In a 1999 referendum, East Timorese voted overwhelmingly for independence, which it gained in 2002 after a period of U.N. administration.
